Economy & Macro

Each base has 8 mineral patches. Optimal mineral saturation is 16 workers (2 per patch). A third worker on a patch collects at ~66% efficiency. Gas geysers are optimal at exactly 3 workers per geyser.

"Constant production" means your production buildings never idle. Every 20-30 seconds you should be cycling through your Barracks, Gateways, or Hatcheries and queuing up units. A barracks idle for 60 seconds lost you a Marine — it compounds over a full game.

Floating resources (minerals sitting unspent above ~200) is a sign of either too few buildings to spend from, or not checking frequently enough. Both skills — having enough production structures and checking them often — need to be developed in parallel.

Resource float — carrying large unspent mineral/gas balances — means your economy is outpacing your spending. Common causes: too few production buildings, not checking production, or being scared to push.

The fix: if minerals float above 300 consistently, you need more production structures. If they float above 150 occasionally during an army move, that's normal. If gas floats above 400, build more gas-intensive units or add upgrade research.

Taking a third base earlier than your opponent immediately widens your economic lead. The risk is defending both bases simultaneously. The higher your skill level, the earlier you should feel comfortable expanding — with proper defence positioned.

Check the Economy graph tab in your replays. If both players' mineral curves converge from a third base forward, you can see exactly when expanding started to matter in that specific game.